Mt. Juliet Pastor's Wife Ministers to Strippers

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (AP) — Erin Stevens isn't the kind of evangelist who stands outside a strip club with a bullhorn, yelling at customers to repent.

Instead, the Tennessee pastor's wife is inside the lobby with the strippers, feeding them a catered dinner twice a month, giving them Mary Kay Cosmetics gift sets and quietly slipping her cell phone number into their hands.

She brings no Bibles, no tracts and no lectures — just love, and an unusual mission she believes God gave her two years ago after she spent 21 days fasting and praying.

The message she heard was: "Strippers are not your enemy. They're your mission field." Erin Stevens responded by seeking counsel from the national Strip Church ministry group and then calling club managers.

She's co-written a book about her experience. Its title is "How to Pick Up a Stripper ... and Other Acts of Kindness."